U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) is showing her support for Planned Parenthood.
On Wednesday Thursday the state’s junior senator spoke on the Senate floor against the latest partisan threat to shut down the federal government as a means to defund Planned Parenthood.
The women’s healthcare provider receives just over $500 million in federal funding every year to provide essential preventative services, including breast exams, cancer screenings and immunizations, as well as adoption referrals and pediatric care.
Conservatives have taken issue with Planned Parenthood because they claim the organization is helping women receive abortions using tax payer money. However, Gillibrand points out that federal dollars are prohibited from funding abortion services – which make up just 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s work – unless in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Gillibrand said that by defunding the program, lawmakers in Washington are telling women, primarily in low-income communities, and many women of color, that they won’t have access to a wide range of essential health services, because of an ideological desire to control what choices are made between a woman and her doctor.
Leave a Reply